


A gift for Ibiki

by Steavatron



Category: Naruto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 12:18:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17981198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steavatron/pseuds/Steavatron
Summary: Ino had known since before the academy that she didn't have the stomach to mind walk for intel. Finding it was doable, it was how it haunted her after she was out that was the problem. All her predecessors had managed without losing their minds to it, but that simply wasn't in the cards for her. Still, she'd be damned if she couldn't find her own way to fill her daddy's shoes.





	A gift for Ibiki

**A gift for Ibiki**

 

 

 

>-~-<

 

 

A large door was flung open in the lower levels of the T&I headquarters. “Come on, get off your ass.” Anko intoned, stepping into his office and making an impatient gesture. “I got you a present, and it’s waiting for you in D6.”

 

Ibiki didn’t look up from the document he was finishing, taking his time to put his final notes down. He had picked up on the fact that the Inuzuka brat wouldn’t have lied to him, but he didn’t think it was worth breaking protocol over. “You’re not even gonna let him sweat?” He queried, inwardly knowing what the answer would be. She never really said anything if she thought her mind could be changed on it. He raised his head, eyes meeting her own as he made a slight gesture to the paper. “The ink’s not even dry on the report yet.”

 

She grinned that bloodthirsty grin of hers, but the excited twitching of her fingers at her side gave away her lack of involvement. She didn't get that excited about this kind of work anymore “He’s an important guy…” The grin widened, “we wouldn’t wanna keep him…waiting.”

 

The seated man’s curiosity was piqued by her strange…stranger than normal behavior. Nonetheless, he rose from his seat and allowed his pen to fall noiselessly back into the holder. She wasn’t wrong. Mū Iwashi was no common bandit. “Let’s not then.” He acquiesced, picking up the report and rolling it into a more cartable form.

 

She stepped out of the office and waited, watching as he retrieved his coat and slipped it on efficiently. She pouted at him a little as she often did whenever she bore witness to the event. “Would it kill ya to do it with a little flourish?” She paused as he closed the door behind him and then they were on their way. “I mean, seriously, it would look so much more badass.” She informed him, not for the first time.

 

At least she didn’t feel the need to demonstrate her own technique to him anymore. He paused briefly and turned to her, using his head to gesture slightly at his completed outfit.

  
Her eyes rolled predictably at the response and he suppressed a smirk. “Yeah, yeah, of course you look badass, but c’mon.” She turned to him over her shoulder and shrugged her coat down a little, exposing the mesh covered skin. “Don’t you like to spice it up every once in a while?”

 

He walked right by his not-second-in-command unaffected by the display and the fluttering eyes that accompanied it. “Maybe after you let me in on what this is all about.” He dangled that particularly juicy piece of bait, though both of them were well aware that he had no intentions of making good on it.

 

She still perked up at the words, striding to come abreast with him once more. “I didn’t wanna ruin the surprise, but you know just how to make a girl _desperate_.” He couldn’t stop the amused smirk that supplanted his features. Year after year, her influence on him just seemed to gain more and more ground. Sufficiently pleased with the reaction, she spilled her secrets. “It’s the queen of your fan club.”

 

He quirked an eyebrow in her vague direction, mastering his breathing so that his exasperation didn’t fall out with his words. “The Yamanaka girl?” He questioned, waiting for an explanation of the reason she was here…again.

 

“Yep.” She didn’t skip, but the way she popped the ‘p’ and the slight sway to her walk showed the same excitement.

 

He focused back on the empty corridor ahead of them, releasing his slight frustration in a silent exhale. “She failed the exam twice and _cried_ about it.” He noted.

 

The woman chuckled to herself. “Oh, yeah, that shit was hilarious.” She turned to him as they rounded a corner, her head tilting to the side. “And then she called you a-“

 

“A sadistic freak, haha,” The blonde standing across from them forced out a nervous chuckle, her hand rising in a familiar gesture to brush the hair away from her face. “Look, about that-“

 

He cut her off with a gesture of the hand, “That was over a year ago, and the flowers were apology enough.” He offered, not mentioning that the bouquet had been far too much. He hadn’t needed it to see that her words had simply been those of a grieving teenage girl lashing out at her own hurt.

 

She offered another forced chuckle, her shoulders falling with the motion. “Uh…Yeah.”

 

He did admit that it was an attractive arrangement. The yellows and pinks of the brooms and gladiolus had quite nicely complimented the white clover in the center of it all...the meanings though…well, he’d hoped Shiho had been wrong, but he hadn’t really expected that to be the case. She wouldn’t be here if it had. “What’s this all about then?”

 

She perked right up at that, her face gaining the same determined edge he’d seen on it before each of her failed exams. “Oh, yeah.” She shook some energy back into herself and it culminated in a series of quiet claps. “I’m here for my exam.”

 

 

>-~-<

 

 

The man raised an eyebrow at her words, simply bringing them back to her as a question. “Your exam?”

 

Ino’s eyes widened as she looked to the purple haired woman by his side. Hadn’t she told him- “Tada!” Said woman interrupted, making a mildly suggestive gesture at the blonde. “Happy-“ She cut herself off, lips peeling into a self satisfied smirk. “Well, you’re not gonna get _all_ my dirty little secrets,” she said in a tone that wouldn’t have been much different if she was propositioning him. “but here’s your present.”

 

The man turned his dark eyes back to her and she found herself lacking the confidence she’d built up over the years. She hoped the grin on her face didn’t look too forced. His shoulders rose ever so slightly more in a controlled shrug. “Alright.”

 

Her eyes widened at the simple statement and she suppressed her urge to squeal. She didn’t need him to keep thinking of her as a kid.

 

“Well, what are we standing around for?!” Anko protested, proceeding to the closer door on the left. “My popcorn’s getting cold.”

 

Ino trailed in after her, seeing a chunin hastily vacate his seat for the Mitarashi to put her feet up on. “A-actually, it isn’t, Anko-sama.” He started, retrieving the snack from the nearby microwave and handing it to her. “I-I anticipated the delay and I-“

 

“Can it, gaki." She said around a mouthful. "The popcorn’s good but your ass kissing needs work.” She lobbed a kernel at him, pinging the oily projectile off his forehead protector. “Now quit standing there and go get Ibiki a chair.”

 

He offered a stiff pair of bows, his grateful ‘Right away, Anko-sama.’ being drowned by Ibiki’s “Actually, I’ll be sitting in for this one.”

 

The chunin nodded with more than just his head and swiveled back to the seated woman. She paused in her movement and arched an eyebrow at him, “Did I stutter?”

 

He bolted, presumably in search for the requested chair.

 

Ibiki shook his head in what looked like fond amusement, stepping up to the two way mirror. Ino wasted no time in running up to stand by his side, knowing that her evaluation had already begun.

 

“So you think you have the stomach for this now?” He questioned, not turning away from the burly man on the other side.

 

“Well, I’m not gonna be using traditional methods, but…” She didn’t nod, instead asking a question of her own. “Sorry, Uh, how long d'you think it would take you to break him?”

 

He looked at her for a second before his gaze returned to the other man. There was a beat of silence as he observed him, probably picking up on a hundred more things than she’d managed to. “Bandits are quite resilient to the more…physical methods, but apply enough mental pressure and they’ll crack eventually.” He offered instead, a single hand rising.

 

“Feh.” Anko scoffed from where she sat, the sound of one of the chair’s legs scraping against something. “I think that just makes it more fun to get _physical_ with ‘em.” She countered. The younger woman scoffed internally, ‘ _You would_.’ Ino didn’t say, knowing a death wish when she thought one up.

 

Ibiki’s hand glided slowly forwards as if he hadn’t heard anything she said, a single finger outstretched. He paused a hair’s breadth before the glass and then gently pressed against it. The sound was insignificant enough that even Ino’s trained ears could barely hear it, but she noticed the change Ibiki was looking for. The seated man didn’t let his bored look leave his face, but his breathing caught as if he thought he imagined something. Ibiki proceeded to drag his finger slowly down the glass, the movement soundless to the kunoichi’s ears. Still, she could see the way the bandit gained a subtle stiffness to his neck as if he was trying not to react to what he was feeling. “This one, though? Three and a half hours to get useable information, and a day at most to break him completely.”

 

She nodded slightly at the answer, not allowing her mood to drop. That demonstration… he’d been giving her pointers. She’d appreciate the fact if it didn’t mean he had absolutely no faith in her ability.

 

Shaking off that thought, she summoned a bright smile.

 

“Then I’m ready to get started.” He nodded. “Could you… go in before me?” He looked at her for a second before he leaned over to one of the consoles and pushed the button that activated the camera. When he turned and made his way out of the room, she followed silently behind.

 

 

>-~-<

 

 

Ibiki walked into the room, not looking at the burly, heavily tattooed man as he slowed.

  
Not knowing how the heiress wanted to play it, he didn’t take a seat opposite the man until she did. “Hey, uh, right. Sorry if we’ve kept you waiting, I’m really nervous about this.” She said sincerely, watching as he lifted a skeptical eyebrow in her direction. The way he glance/flinched in Ibiki’s direction meant he knew very well whose company he was sharing and he was rightfully unsettled about it. “It’s my third time taking the exam, you know, so I’m really hoping I don’t screw it up again.”

 

Ibiki didn’t give any of his thoughts away, but Iwashi’s aborted scoff told her plenty.

 

“Oh, I’m sure you know who this is,” She turned in her chair to gesture to her partner, forwardly placing a gentle touch against his arm. As she’d hoped, he wasn’t about to undermine her authority in front of their captive. “But he’s not gonna be involved.” The criminal’s skeptical eyes rolled over the tokujo once, the turning of gears almost visible on the surface of his bald head. “I’m Yamanaka Ino, and since you didn’t let me apologize in the hallway, I’m really, really sorry, Ibiki.” She took the chance that had presented itself. “Daddy told me about how things were before…” She gestured vaguely to the bandana covering his head, “and, I knew I had to make it up to you.”

 

There was a beat of silence in the interrogation room before he acknowledged her words with a small nod.

 

“Right.” That over with, she released his arm and turned to the man across from them. “So, your name is Mū Iwashi, right?” She asked, mainly because she knew he was going to be difficult about it.

 

True to her expectation, after the confirmation that Ibiki was as good as neutered, he offered her nothing but a condescending sneer.

 

She blinked, feigning a slight fluster to her motions. “Okay.” She rifled through the papers she’d walked in with, flicking through the gruesome images before she reached one with a similar looking man. “Uh, how about this.” She turned it to him, seeing his eyes flicker to it before he leaned back in his seat. “Is this your brother…Kawaki?” She asked.

 

The man sat in stony silence before them, unwilling to give an inch.

 

She smiled slightly as she exhaled. “Great.” She assured with a nod. “You’re doing great.” His face didn’t hide his newfound appreciation for her apparent lack of intelligence.

 

She neatly reorganized the files before gently placing them on the ground beside the table.

  
“Now…” She patted herself down. “Oh, shoot.” She looked at Ibiki and offered him a sheepish grin.

 

The man knew it was an act, but his chest still seemed to rise and fall with the cycling of a calming breath.

  
“ThankyouIpromiseIwon’ttakelong!” She bolted out of the room, giggled to herself in the hallway for a second before pulling a notepad and a some sealing supplies from her kunai pouch.

 

She darted back in, quickly seating herself and making a show of trying to get on with it.

 

“Uh, right. Sorry about that, I just-“ She glanced at the two men. “Right, my bad.” She placed the stationery on the table between them, pretending not to notice Iwashi’s disgusted leer.

 

He was probably thinking about what a great prisoner she would’ve made.

 

She tried not to focus on that thought and instead flipped open the notebook. “Okay, so, I like to think I’m a really good girl,” she started, deliberately not biting her cheek at the man’s more brazen scoff. “And my daddy thought so, too.” He didn’t take the bait, sucking his teeth a little when he probably realized that he was letting his guard down. “So, anyway, I’m not really…”

 

She didn’t need to feign her disgust as she gestured in the man’s general direction.

 

“I mean, I’m a Yamanaka and I’m damn good at the jutsu we do, but,” Her shudder of revulsion was mostly real. “I just…seeing the things people do and feeling their feelings…” She couldn’t suppress the second shudder, this one being entirely real. “I just…it stays with you and I can’t-“ She cut herself off there, remembering she didn’t need to go any further.

 

She centered herself around the activity of preparing her materials, starting by unscrewing the cap from the portable inkwell.

  
“I guess I just don’t have the stomach for it, you know.” She looked to Ibiki and he obliged her with a shrug.

 

She turned back to the man, placing the cap off to the side.

 

She cleared her throat before continuing. “So, anyway, like I said, I’m a nice girl so I’d feel really bad if I did this to you without asking politely first, so I’m just gonna do that, okay?” She questioned, looking down at her pad to put it in a comfortable writing position. “Now, it would be better for you if you answer right away, but I need to impress Ibiki, so…uh…I-I’ll just ask the questions.”

 

She could feel his amusement from across the table as she spoke.

 

“Now, you were captured by Inuzuka Kiba and his team, right?”

 

“…”

 

“Oh, he’s actually one of my childhood friends.” She giggled conspiratorially, “Don’t you feel embarrassed that you were caught by someone who answers to Dog Breath?”

  
She giggled to herself a little more.

 

“I mean, _I_ would be if Kiba caught me…” Her eyes drifted to the corner of the grey ceiling. “Heh.” She tilted her head a little. “Actually he’s grown up a lot since we were kids. He’s actually a pretty good ninja now.” She acknowledged, discretely monitoring his irritation. “I guess it wouldn’t say so much anymore if it takes him to catch you.”

 

At the end of her words, she could see a retort on the tip of his tongue, but he bit it back the instant before he could say it.

 

She shook her head indulgently. “Oh, sorry.” She directed her gaze back at the book. “Uh…okay. Are you the leader of the ‘Black Fang’ gang?” She questioned.

 

“…”

 

“Uh…I’m just gonna…assume that…” She gestured slightly with the brush at the tattoo of a fang poking out from under one eye. Turning to her small notebook, she started to mutter as she dragged the brush against the page. “lemme just…there we go, Black…Fang…leader. Great.” She looked up at him, smiling kindly. “You’re doing great.”

 

He snorted once again and she almost missed the ‘You’re not.’ he tried to sneak under his breath.

 

“So, um, did you start raiding towns at our borders a few-uh…no.” She looked around the table for a second, before her eyes fell to the documents by the side. ‘Focusing’ on them for a second, she picked out the figures. “Four months ago?”

 

“…”

 

“Okay.” Once again, she brought her brush down to add more characters to the page. “Have you been collaborating with other gangs?” The gesture she made with her hand sent some ink flying and she cringed a little. “I mean, a couple of the raids happened really close together and it kinda does seem to be a bit much for you to handle-“

 

“I’ll show you too much to handle.” He snarled, chains rattling as his hands jutted up against their restraints. His fingers seemed to spasm with the movement, the blue veins on his hands engorging. He was probably itching to wrap them around her neck.

  
Yay.

 

Fun thoughts.

 

“Oh, no, you were doing so great.” She sulked a little, taking pride in the way he bristled. “Come on, I’ve just got a few more and it would really help me out if you could lemme impress my future boss.”

 

Another snort was the only response to that statement.

 

“Okay, the Red Dragons and the…Light of Jashin?” She shook her head and moved on. “Were you working together with either of them?”

 

“…”

 

“Okay.” More brushstrokes. “Do you know where their HQs are?”

 

He leered at her a little before he answered. “Take off that top and it might just jog my memory.” He offered gruffly. He didn’t seem to be serious about it, though, more like he was looking to poke her for fun and see how she’d react. She tried not to disappoint.

 

She used a long since perfected trick to get a flush of pink to rise up her chest and cover her face. “Uh, that’s okay, uh.” She made a show of considering the proposal, sneaking a glance at her cleavage and at the black garbed man by her side. She put her head down and muttered something nonsensical before exhaling noisily. Raising her head and meeting his eyes, she channeled some of her true personality. “That is _not_ appropriate.” She reprimanded firmly, fighting the urge to laugh outright when his impotent leer only became more intense.

 

‘ _Kami-sama, I’m going to hell for this, aren’t I?_ ’

 

“Okay. Last one. Our reports say thirty three civilians were freed, a hundred and fourteen bandits killed and the other twenty seven taken into custody.” She looked up from her notes. “Are those the numbers in your records?”

 

His face soured at the reminder of his dead men and he deigned not to answer her question.

 

“Okay, good.” She noted with a final addition to her paper. “That was pretty good.” She offered him. “I appreciate you giving me a chance to impress Ibiki.”

 

She ignored his slight huff as she instead turned to her partner for the interrogation.

 

“Um…” She summoned another blush, her hand rising in an open palmed invitation. “If I may be so bold?”

 

She thought she could see him holding back a snicker as he placed his hand in hers, but maybe that was her imagination.

 

She grasped the offered hand and placed it atop her bare shoulder, feeling his fingertips briefly brush against her neck. “Okay.” She ripped the front page out of the notebook and presented it to both parties. “So, I was really stumped when I was trying to figure out a way of doing this.” She waved her arm at the man across the table. “I mean, some people won’t just give you the information, even if you ask them nicely.” She threw in the most unsubtle wink she could manage before continuing. “So we’ve developed other methods of getting it.”

 

Ibiki nodded slowly, somehow ascertaining that it was his cue to do so.

 

“Now, I’m not really comfortable with the brain mingling stuff when it comes to creeps like this,” She turned to the man, “No offense,” She turned back to the tokujo, “and the physical stuff is just kinda…barbaric, you know?” She knew she was going to catch hell from Anko for that one, but she soldiered on with her act, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder. “So I was trying to come up with something that works for me, hence,” She flopped the paper a little within their shared field of vision.

 

Both men remained unimpressed.

 

“R-right. So I got to thinking to myself. When will someone always tell you the truth?”

 

She waited for a handful of seconds but no answers were forthcoming.

 

“Uh-okay. I mean,” She glanced at Ibiki, “I mean I expected you to have something, but I figure that it’s when the alternative is bad enough that it’s not really an option.” She licked her lips. “So I started thinking about what everyone is afraid of. I looked up genjutsus and different toxins and stuff.” She huffed. “Oh, I even tried to make a truth seal work, but that stuff is _not_ as easy as it looks.” She shook her head. “Anyway, what’s the one thing that’s everyone’s enemy?” She questioned, looking excitedly between the two men to see who would get it.

 

The peanut gallery remained silent.

 

Unruffled, she waved them off. “It’s okay, it took me weeks to figure out.” She admitted. “It’s time.” Ibiki didn’t so much as shift in his seat, but she could feel the way his pulse deviated slightly in his fingertips. Iwashi simply looked at her as if she’d professed her undying love for Sai.

 

…Or Lee.

 

“Time is everyone’s enemy, even nature.” She held the paper out between them so she could point to it. “So, obviously, my first thought was to see if I could speed up someone’s perception of time until years pass in minutes.”

 

Ibiki’s fingers loosened the slightest bit around her shoulder and she took that to mean he’d been down this path before.

 

She shrugged, making a conscious effort not to displace the hand. “Doing it using drugs just did too much damage to the brain and I couldn’t wrap my mind around time enough to come up with a time dilation seal.” Her hand once more made that absent gesture to the side. “I mean, it wouldn’t have been useful since it would just age people to dust, but whatever.I started trying to find a way to see if there was a way to isolate someone’s soul, you know, so I wouldn’t have the whole aged-to-dust/mind-turned-to-mush problem.”

 

The grip on her shoulder tightened infinitesimally.

 

She pouted. “I didn’t have any luck at first, since our bodies really need our souls to survive, but-“

 

“Enough with the play by play.” The man on the other side growled. “Fucking get on with it.”

 

She reared back a little as if in shock, looking back and forth between the two men. “But I…” her voice lowered, but in the emptiness of the cell it was easy to make out. “I thought you’d give me a chance to impress him.” She made a show of sniffling away her tears and moving forward with the interrogation. “Okay.” She held up the paper, pinching it between two fingers on either side so it was stretched flat in the air between them. “The first part is a chakra filter. It took me weeks to be able to fly through it without ripping it to shreds, but now,”

 

With barely a flicker of chakra, the three occupants of the room were flung into the visual representation of the man’s mind. The area looked like almost any other mind she’d seen, a decently clear path in the middle with memories placed on either side. In this case, it was themed to look like a bandit camp, and the entrances to the memories were the tents she assumed they lived in.

 

The burly man wasted no time, feeling his limbs free of their restraints he lunged at the girl. Ibiki’s utter lack of reaction actually pleased the kunoichi as her hand came forward. She used a sealless technique to freeze him in place, before looking around the space. The tents varied in size, and some of them were more worn around the edges than others. The ground was marked with well worn paths to some of the memories, and she almost shuddered at the thought of what was behind those flaps. Returning to her search, she focused closer to the ground around their feet. Good anchor points usually weren't far from-

 

“Ah, there we go.” She started, finding what she’d been looking for. She used her chakra to perform a familiar technique, creating a metaphysical chain of chakra that would bind the man’s soul to his body until it was expended. The chain simply manifested around his ankle, the other end appearing around a stake nailed to the ground.

 

She didn’t jiggle it, hesitant to touch anything in the man’s filthy mind.

 

Moving towards him, she steeled herself, and then grabbed his arms and held on. “You know how to get out on your own?” She asked her partner, watching as he nodded and then faded out of the man’s mind. Turning back to the bandit leader, she let herself fade from his mind, making sure to maintain her hold on him.

 

She felt herself flung back to her own slumped form, the lights seeming to flick on in the small room like a pair of bright suns.

 

It took her less than an instant to readjust to physicality again, and she immediately launched into explaining her seals to Ibiki. “Okay, so like I said this main one here is a chakra filter.” She pointed, dropping the act. “When I flew through it the first time, I keyed it to myself, and when I flew back it bounced him off-“

 

She was stopped by the hand he raised. “Isn’t your non corporeal form just your soul?” He questioned, and she beamed internally at the fact that he was actually taking her seriously.

 

“Yeah, but my chakra is what says how far I can go and all that.”

 

His head dipped in a slight nod. “So if he was repelled by the seal, then why isn’t he conscious?”

 

She looked down at the paper. “Oh, shit. Wrong word.” She apologized. “It’s more like the seal allowed me through freely, but it denied him.” She turned it around. “Okay, see this part,-”

 

“A gravity modifier?” He questioned, apparently recognizing the marks of Gai’s tutelage.

 

“Yeah.” She confirmed. “I couldn’t figure out time dilation, but I did figure out that chakra isn’t like a soul. It’s affected by physical forces just like the rest our bodies.”

 

His head seemed to tilt in a ‘go on’ gesture.

 

“But, the way it affects the soul is different. You know when you’re feeling chakra exhaustion and every second feels like a minute?”

 

He nodded because _of_ _course_ he did.

 

“Yeah, I figure that’s not actually time moving slower, but because you’ve pushed your chakra core too hard it can’t circulate the energy around your body as effectively.” She offered her hypothesis. “My guess is that it _feels_ like time is moving slower ‘cause the weight of your existence, that’s your chakra tied to your soul, has doubled and your soul hasn’t been adjusted to match.”

 

The rhythm of his breathing changed as he shifted in his seat, leaning back to think about her words.

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“…So this seal of yours…”

 

“It uses all the chakra I put in it to weigh down his chakra as much as it can. Since his soul isn't affected by the physical weight of his chakra, it'll still take the same time for it to go back into his body.” She made a so-so gesture with one hand. “It'll still weigh it down spiritually, though, so his soul's gonna feel like time's been slowed down. With what I put in just now, he should be coming back to us about fifty years older…give or take.”

 

The man didn't falter at the information, assimilating it quickly and moving on. “And will he actually remember things that matter?” The tokujo asked.

 

“Yeah, that’s part of why I brought his soul out of his body. Souls don’t decay, so he’ll remember everything through the years he’s floating around, and then he’ll be back in his body where the memories will still be fresh in his mind.”

 

Once more, all he responded with was a cool nod. “And you couldn’t simply weigh down his chakra within his body?”

 

She shook her head, painted lips pulling into a grimace. “Yeah, no. I couldn’t find a way to isolate the chakra on its own, so…yeah…” She forced herself to shrug, not thinking about the fact that chakra moving that slowly within him wouldn't have been enough to keep him alive. “Gravity is _not_ our friend either.” She asserted without a doubt.

 

The barest hint of air movement made her aware of his near silent snort of amusement.

 

Their guest took that opportunity to rejoin them, undoubtedly being snapped back into his body by the chain she’d put in place. She grinned at him, projecting none of the guilt she still felt for putting yet another person through that. “Welcome back to the land of the living.” She announced as cheerily as she could manage, though it was lost on the gasping man.

 

He drank in the air in big gulps, eyes wide as he took in the features of the room as if it was all new to him. His hands yanked at their restraints, probably reaching to calm his racing heart.

 

She gave him a few more minutes to calm down, and calm right down he did. Once he seemed to realize where he was once more, his posture slumped and he deflated to the point where his eyes were staring dead at her chest. She knew he was watching her breathing because he _needed_ something to confirm for him that time was indeed passing and that he wouldn’t even contemplate acting against her.

 

She tried to mute the protests of her conscience, knowing that it would revolt even louder if she did this the way she was ‘supposed’ to.

 

“Okay, so this is my chance to impress Ibiki.” She resumed her act with a stage whisper, taking furtive glances at her partner. “You’ll cooperate with me now, right?”

 

He didn’t hesitate, responding with a definite nod. She forced herself to look into his eyes, noting that the dark orbs now shared the same glassy appearance as the other men’s. The eyes of a man who was dead inside.

 

He ~~couldn't~~ wouldn’t care about anything at this stage. None of the things that had mattered to him before this moment would have any weight. Only one thing he’d undoubtedly taken for granted, just as the rest of them were. “And would you mind telling Ibiki why?”

 

His eyes left her purple top, moving to the other man and offering an answer before his delay could be taken as a refusal. “F-feeling.” He said succinctly.

 

“Feeling what?” She queried softly, mouthing his answer before it even approached his lips.

 

“Anything.”

 

She felt her own soul shiver a little at the admission, the repetition not making it any easier to hear. The thought of simply being trapped without your senses, while the insurmountable weight of time pressed down on your soul…seeing nothing…feeling nothing…no taste, or smell or hearing… Reaching into your memories only to find that you can garner no emotions from them. Without the connection to your physical brain, none of those synapses remain. 

 

Your treasured memories, reduced to their facts and figures. The faces of family and friends alike garnering the same response as enemies and strangers. The taste of a lovingly prepared meal, the sight of a breathtaking vista, the smell of a masterfully assembled bouquet. 

 

The gentle caress of a lover, the affectionate embrace of a child, the proud gaze of a mentor.

 

The pleasant burn of your muscles after training, the weightless banter between comrades, the satisfaction of a well executed technique.

 

And she'd just taken it. 

 

She'd deprived six men of all that and more. In her few weeks of testing this technique she'd caused centuries of human suffering. Her mind didn't spare her any of the guilt, instantly returning to her questioning of the first ~~victim~~ bandit. Without the sensation of time passing he hadn't been able to articulate how long he'd been there, but from her estimates it had been about three years.   
  


He'd tried to focus on his memories at first, but when he realized the emotions that accompanied them were absent, he tried to wait her out. He tried drumming up his imagination, but you can only do that for so long. After he'd caved and stripped each of his memories of everything that gave them meaning, he'd stewed. He cursed her name, damning her very existence with every fibre of his existence. He'd hated and hated and hated, hoping that even a modicum of his loathing would reach her. 

 

And as time continued to stand still, he had continued to seethe until he'd grown weary of it. For the first time in years, he prayed to Kami-sama. He'd begged for answers, he'd repented for his life as a bandit, he'd promised atonement, he'd professed his undying love for Her. He'd prayed for freedom, for sensation, 

 

For death.

 

When none of that worked, he'd turned on Her too. He cursed her for turning her back on him. He did the same with every other god he'd even heard passing mention of. 

 

When all else had failed, he'd turned his focus back on her, the girl who had put him in this prison. He'd tried to understand her, tried to put himself in her position to understand  _why_ she would put another human being through this torment. When he thought he had it figured out, he'd prayed to her too.

 

He'd repented for his crimes. He'd sworn himself to a life of servitude until she would judge him worthy of absolution. He'd worshipped the memory of her face, extolled her merciful ways, exalted her endless wisdom. He revered her, praised her, feared her, like any other god. 

 

The moment he'd been released, he'd prostrated himself before her in subservience. It had taken days before he could assert to himself that she was flesh and blood just as he was, and not Kami-sama herself. Looking at the man before her, she could see the way he hadn't been able to meet her eyes, and her heart grimaced.

 

She couldn’t be in the room a second longer.

 

“So, I’ll just leave you to Ibiki, then.” Iwashi simply nodded meekly, looking like the unwanted offspring of Pitiful and Heart Wrenching.

 

She didn’t waste any time, getting up from her seat and making her way out of the room. She knew that Ibiki would want to examine the seal in detail for himself, so she’d left it. Hopefully he’d feel some pity for the man and at least breathe slightly deeper breaths.“Well, I’ll be goddamned, Blondie.”

 

She looked up from where she’d started to calm from her panic and saw the woman who ‘wasn’t’ Ibiki’s second in command standing in the doorway. She offered her a slight smile, straightening up as much as she could.

 

There was a beat of silence and the other woman smirked a little before she spoke. “Come on, Kohai.” She walked right up to the blonde, taking her by the arm and leading her down the hallway. “Lemme show you where to go when I order you to buy me lunch.” She clarified.

 

Ino chuckled happily, going along with Anko. “I already know where the dango stand is.”

 

The snake mistress ‘tsk’d disapprovingly. “First rule of business, do not annoy Anko-sama, especially when she’s trying to congratulate you on beating her record.”

 

Ino laughed at the absurdity of the statement, finding herself almost grinning naturally when she responded with, “Hai, Anko-sama.”

 

 

>-~-<

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm guessing a non-zero number of people feel that Ino is OOC in this story, but I think its a number of factors that make it look like that. The largest one is the fact that she's pretending to be someone else because she feels that distancing herself from her actions will make it easier on her.


End file.
